diff -urp smartmontools-5.38.orig/configure.in smartmontools-5.38/configure.in
--- smartmontools-5.38.orig/configure.in	2009-08-16 07:42:57.000000000 -0400
+++ smartmontools-5.38/configure.in	2009-08-21 12:07:15.000000000 -0400
@@ -143,6 +143,40 @@ if test "$with_selinux" = "yes"; then
 	AC_DEFINE(WITH_SELINUX, [1], [Define to 1 if SELinux support is enabled])
 fi
 
+  AC_ARG_WITH(libcap-ng,
+    [  --with-libcap-ng=[auto/yes/no]  Add Libcap-ng support [default=auto]],,
+    with_libcap_ng=auto)
+
+# Check for Libcap-ng API
+#
+# libcap-ng detection
+
+if test x$with_libcap_ng = xno ; then
+    have_libcap_ng=no;
+else
+    # Start by checking for header file
+    AC_CHECK_HEADER(cap-ng.h, capng_headers=yes, capng_headers=no)
+
+    # See if we have libcap-ng library
+    AC_CHECK_LIB(cap-ng, capng_clear, CAPNG_LDADD=-lcap-ng,)
+
+    # Check results are usable
+    if test x$with_libcap_ng = xyes -a x$CAPNG_LDADD = x ; then
+       AC_MSG_ERROR(libcap-ng support was requested and the library was not found)
+    fi
+    if test x$CAPNG_LDADD != x -a $capng_headers = no ; then
+       AC_MSG_ERROR(libcap-ng libraries found but headers are missing)
+    fi
+fi
+AC_SUBST(CAPNG_LDADD)
+AC_MSG_CHECKING(whether to use libcap-ng)
+if test x$CAPNG_LDADD != x ; then
+    AC_DEFINE(HAVE_LIBCAP_NG,1,[libcap-ng support])
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(yes)
+else
+    AC_MSG_RESULT(no)
+fi
+
 if test "$prefix" = "NONE"; then
     dnl no prefix and no mandir, so use ${prefix}/share/man as default
     if test "$mandir" = '${prefix}/man'; then
diff -urp smartmontools-5.38.orig/Makefile.am smartmontools-5.38/Makefile.am
--- smartmontools-5.38.orig/Makefile.am	2009-08-16 07:42:57.000000000 -0400
+++ smartmontools-5.38/Makefile.am	2009-08-21 11:28:22.000000000 -0400
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ smartd_SOURCES =  smartd.cpp      \
                   utility.cpp     \
                   utility.h
 
-smartd_LDADD = @os_deps@ @os_libs@
+smartd_LDADD = @os_deps@ @os_libs@ @CAPNG_LDADD@
 smartd_DEPENDENCIES = @os_deps@
 
 EXTRA_smartd_SOURCES = os_darwin.cpp    \
diff -urp smartmontools-5.38.orig/smartd.cpp smartmontools-5.38/smartd.cpp
--- smartmontools-5.38.orig/smartd.cpp	2009-08-16 07:42:57.000000000 -0400
+++ smartmontools-5.38/smartd.cpp	2009-08-21 11:28:22.000000000 -0400
@@ -74,6 +74,10 @@ extern "C" int __stdcall FreeConsole(voi
 #include <io.h> // setmode()
 #endif // __CYGWIN__
 
+#ifdef HAVE_LIBCAP_NG
+#include <cap-ng.h>
+#endif //LIBCAP_NG
+
 // locally included files
 #include "int64.h"
 #include "atacmds.h"
@@ -4408,6 +4412,14 @@ static int smartd_main(int argc, char **
   
   // don't exit on bad checksums
   con->checksumfail=0;
+
+#ifdef HAVE_LIBCAP_NG
+  // Drop capabilities
+  capng_clear(CAPNG_SELECT_BOTH);
+  capng_update(CAPNG_ADD, (capng_type_t)(CAPNG_EFFECTIVE|CAPNG_PERMITTED),
+               CAP_SYS_ADMIN);
+  capng_apply(CAPNG_SELECT_BOTH);
+#endif
   
   // the main loop of the code
   while (1){